Munich's startup calendar is busiest in November: three women-founder events, BayStartUP's VentureCon and a free Startup Demo Night (25 November), hackaTUM and the Women Startup Award all fall within four weeks. DLD opens 2027 on 14–16 January, and Bits & Pretzels closes the season on 27–29 September 2027, with startup tickets at €270 now.
This guide lists startup, tech, investor and women-founder events in Munich and nearby Garching from October 2026 to the end of 2027. We checked every date on the organiser's own website or on Munich Startup, the city's startup portal. We mark each event as Confirmed (date on the official site), Announced (date from a reliable second source) or Expected (based on past editions only).
This article is regularly updated with new events. Do you know about an event that needs to be added? Send us some info and we will see if it's a fit.
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Must Attend Startup Events in Munich 2026–2027: Calendar from October 2026 to September 2027
Autumn 2026: October to December
Women founders week: 21–29 October 2026
Women.start.up!, UnternehmerTUM's programme for women founders, runs this evening to help people find co-founders and join teams.
Two cheap days of exhibitors and talks, a good place to meet women investors, mentors and future hires.
Businettes, a women founders' network, hosts this evening; the date is from the Munich Startup calendar. The next day, the Stadtsparkasse München hands out the Münchner Gründerpreis at WERK1 (28 October), and Mentessa's free Female Founders Breakfast meets at Munich Urban Colab on 29 October, 8:30–10:00.
Digital Health Summit: 4–5 November 2026
TUM Venture Lab Healthcare brings health tech founders, clinicians and investors to the Digital Health Summit at TranslaTUM, Einsteinstraße 25. The dates come from the Munich Startup calendar.
Women founder events: 10–19 November 2026
Bitkom, the German digital industry association, runs this circle with the Strascheg Center for Entrepreneurship.
The chamber of commerce's morning covers business plans, funding and the paperwork of founding a company in Germany.
A stage for very early ideas from Munich University of Applied Sciences and the city's startup scene.
UnternehmerTUM's Women Startup Initiative picks its finalists, who pitch to a jury: the main women-led pitch night of the year in Munich.
VentureCon and the Startup Demo Night: 25 November 2026
BayStartUP, the Bavarian startup network, runs both on the same day in the Werksviertel: investors by day, a free stand for your startup in the evening.
hackaTUM and Ultimate Demo Day: 27 November to 10 December 2026
hackaTUM is a good place to find a technical co-founder. Ultimate Demo Day is UnternehmerTUM's last pitch event of the year.
Also in town: Global Entrepreneurship Week (Gründungswoche Deutschland, 16–22 November) and electronica (10–13 November, Messe München), whose startup area is already full.
Winter and spring 2027: January to June
DLD Munich: 14–16 January 2027
DLD (Digital Life Design) opens the year the week before Davos. Sign up on the site to hear when applications open.
Business plan competition and DATA festival: March 2027
BayStartUP's Münchener Businessplan Wettbewerb gives free feedback and jury contacts, a good fit for bootstrappers. Phase 1 closes on 13 January 2027, and its awards evening is on 11 March (18:00–22:00, free). BayStartUP dates
DMEA: 13–15 April 2027
Europe's big digital health fair moves from Berlin to Munich for 2027, which puts Munich's health tech startups next to their buyers.
Startup Demo Night and Circular Republic Festival: June 2027
BayStartUP's free Startup Demo Night on 1 June (Werk1, 18:00–22:00) also hands out the Phase 2 awards of the business plan competition.
UnternehmerTUM's Circular Republic initiative brings corporates that want circular suppliers. mcbw, Munich Creative Business Week, is planned for 10–16 May 2027.
Summer and autumn 2027
Germany's biggest founders festival ends in Oktoberfest tents, where each table has a host. Startup tickets need a company founded in 2017 or later; prices rise after 31 December.
Dates not announced yet
- Ecosystem Startup Reveal (XPRENEURS and BayStartUP demo day): last held on 10 June 2026 at the TonHalle; expected in June 2027.
- Munich Startup Festival: last held on 22 July 2026 at Backstage; expected in summer 2027. Munich Startup
- Plug and Play Germany Summit: last held on 10 March 2026 at BMW Welt; expected in spring 2027.
- FFX Female Founders Experience Munich: an application-only day for about 120 people, last held on 13 October 2026; expected in autumn 2027.
- GDG Munich DevFest: no 2026 edition announced; the last we found was on 23 November 2024 at SAP Labs Garching.
- herCAREER, Women Startup Award, VentureCon, Ultimate Demo Day and hackaTUM: all expected again in autumn 2027.
Recurring meetups and communities
- Munich Startup: the city's startup portal lists dozens of events each month, most of them free. munich-startup.de
- AFTERWERK at WERK1: pitches and networking evenings in the Werksviertel. WERK1 events
- Female Founders Breakfast: regular facilitated breakfasts for women founders and investors. Mentessa
- BayStartUP: free online tutorials on funding, pitching and law from December 2026 to September 2027. BayStartUP dates
- LMU Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center and START Munich: student pitch nights and hackathons. LMU IEC, START Munich
Some names have gone quiet or left. Startup Grind Munich lists no upcoming event, we found no Startup Weekend Munich in 2026, and ISPO has moved from Munich to Amsterdam (ispo.com).
Events for women founders in Munich
Munich has a full women-founder calendar this autumn: the Women Startup MatchLab (21 October), herCAREER (22–23 October), the Businettes Female Founders Night (27 October), the Female Founders Breakfast (29 October), the SheMadeIT circle (10 November), SheStartup at the IHK (13 November) and the Women Startup Award Night (19 November). If you organise one we missed, send it to us and we'll add it.
Funding and support to know before you go
- EXIST start-up grant: a 12-month stipend of €3,000 a month for founders with a PhD, €2,500 for graduates and €1,000 for students, plus €150 per child; exist Women adds €2,000 of material costs per woman founder. EXIST, exist Women
- Start?Zuschuss!: Bavaria's grant for young digital startups covers up to 50 percent of costs for a year, at most €36,000; the last round closed on 17 June 2026. Munich Startup
- Self-employment permit: non-EU founders can get a residence permit for self-employment (§21 Residence Act) for up to three years if the business has economic interest and secured financing. §21 AufenthG
- Opportunity Card (Chancenkarte): up to one year in Germany to look for work, with part-time work of up to 20 hours a week allowed. §20a AufenthG
- GmbH or UG: a GmbH needs €25,000 of share capital; with less, the company must be a UG (haftungsbeschränkt). GmbHG
How to get the most out of Munich startup events
- Book Bits & Pretzels early. The €270 startup ticket price runs until 31 December 2026, and prices rise in each phase.
- Use the free events. The Startup Demo Nights, hackaTUM, the Women Startup Award Night and most Munich Startup listings cost nothing.
- Enter the business plan competition. Phase 1 of the Münchener Businessplan Wettbewerb closes on 13 January 2027; see more startup competitions.
- Spend a day in the Werksviertel and at Munich Urban Colab. WERK1, UnternehmerTUM and BayStartUP run most of the city's founder events there.
- Learn a little German. Chamber of commerce, BayStartUP and award events often run in German; check the language before you book.
List your event in this guide
Do you run a startup, tech or investor event in Munich? Send us the name, dates, venue and official link, and we'll check whether it fits this guide. We list events for founders, with a real date and an official page.
This article is regularly updated with new events. Do you know about an event that needs to be added? Send us some info and we will see if it's a fit.
🔗 Add an awesome event
Startup events in other places
- Best startup events in Germany
- Must Attend Startup Events in Amsterdam, Netherlands
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FAQ
What is the biggest startup event in Munich?
Bits & Pretzels, on 27–29 September 2027 at Messe München, with a final day in the Oktoberfest tents.
Are there free startup events in Munich?
Yes. The Münchener Startup Demo Night (25 November 2026), hackaTUM (27–29 November) and the Women Startup Award Night (19 November) are free.
Are there events for women founders in Munich?
Yes: the Women Startup MatchLab, herCAREER, the Businettes Female Founders Night, the Female Founders Breakfast, SheMadeIT, SheStartup and the Women Startup Award Night, all between 21 October and 19 November 2026.
When is DLD Munich 2027?
14–16 January 2027. DLD is by application; the venue and prices are not published yet.
Which grants can Munich founders apply for?
The federal EXIST start-up grant (and exist Women) and Bavaria's Start?Zuschuss!, which pays up to €36,000.
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
